Many foreigners could never survive what they perceive as the boredom of rural Isaan.
They want to be around other expats, restaurants, clubs, bars, etc.
With all that, comes issues such as traffic, crime, suicide and worse.
Drunken brawls, road rage, alcoholism, you name it, areas such as Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket all have major issues that seem to be getting worse (Read the news!).
We don’t have those issues in Isaan.
When you live and behave like a local and not a westerner, life is pretty simple and nothing to get wound up about.
Hang out with locals and do local things.